Pan Fried Italian Halibut With Lemon Cream And Caper Sauce

Cindy has a client who regularly gives her fish fillets when they go fishing in Alaska so we had three nice pieces of Halibut in the freezer.  When I recently saw the recipe for Grilled Italian Swordfish With Lemon Cream And Caper Sauce on Roz’s  La Bella Vita Cucina blog, which uses our favorite fish sauce, I had to wonder how it would go with our Halibut.  Cindy and Bev agreed that we should give it a try but I decided to pan-fry rather than grill it.  I changed the ingredient amounts for our three pieces and changed the fish cooking directions so check please Roz’s blog for her original recipe and some great shots of her pretty presentation.

Pan Fried Italian Halibut With Lemon Cream And Caper Sauce – Adapted from La Bella Vita Cucina

Ingredients:

 Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 pieces halibut, about 1″ thick,

1/2 cup Italian-seasoned bread crumbs 

1/2 cup Italian-seasoned panko crumbs 

Creamy Lemon Caper Sauce

6 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3T  butter

½ cup of heavy cream (Larry used half & half - see note)

Juice of ¾ medium-sized lemons

Zest of 1 small lemon

1–½ cups minced fresh-cut Italian parsley (Larry only had ¾ cup)

3 cloves of fresh garlic, finely chopped

3 Tablespoons fresh-cut oregano, finely chopped

3/8 small jar of capers (if salted, rinse thoroughly)

Note: The half and half curdled so be sure to use cream.

Instructions:  

1. Slowly heat all of the sauce ingredients in a saucepan.

2. Place on a very low simmer to keep the sauce warm while cooking the halibut.

3. Drizzle each halibut piece with olive oil and spread the oil evenly over both sides.

4. Using a shallow mid-size bowl, mix the Italian seasoned bread crumbs and panko crumbs.

5. Place each oiled halibut piece onto the bread crumbs and then turn over, making sure that the fish pieces are covered on both sides.

6. Get the pan heated and add enough oil to cover the bottom well.

7. Cook the pieces on medium heat for about 3 minutes on the first side, flip and cook to an internal temperature of 120F or it flakes easily.

The thicker the pieces, the longer the time necessary to cook through, keeping in mind that the fish should not be cooked to the point of being dry, but rather they should be moist and tender inside. (Bevs thinner piece did not get as brown.)

Top each piece with sauce to taste – Larry used a lot.

We all thought it was very good and will use the sauce recipe again.  Throughout the evening Cindy kept saying "that fish was sooo good."

As you might expect, the next morning for breakfast, I cooked scrambled eggs in a couple tablespoons of the leftover sauce and they were outstanding - I believe there is still enough sauce for one more time.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

6/12/19 event date